Plastic objects including lenticular lens sheets

ABSTRACT

A plastic product formed from a method of fabricating plastic objects having an insert of lenticular lens material integrally bonded or otherwise attached therein. In one embodiment, the method is used to fabricate a container, such as a conical cup, by first manufacturing or providing a sheet of lenticular material comprising layers of lens material and optical ridges and grooves and an ink layer printed on the flat side of the lens material. To protect the ink from the heat of molten or moldable plastic during later plastic processing, a thermally protective substrate is attached or bonded to the ink layer by using adhesives to attach a plastic substrate or by coating the ink with coating materials that thermally protect the ink from high temperatures. In one embodiment, the protective substrate is applied in a two step process of first placing a plastic hot melt onto a polyester or other material release liner and, after cooling of the hot melt, using heat and pressure to laminate or bond the hot melt plastic to the ink and then removing the liner. Lenticular inserts are cut out of the lenticular material sheets and the inserts are positioned within a mold where the container is formed by injection, blow, or other molding process. In this step, the substrate acts as a bonding surface as it contacts the molten plastic, melts, and then cools forming a bonding interface with the plastic used to form the container.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Division of Application Ser. No. 10/970,205entitled “METHOD OF BONDING LENTICULAR LENS SHEET TO PLASTIC OBJECTS ANDOBJECTS MADE FROM SAME,” filed Oct. 21, 2004, which is a Continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 09/566,063 entitled “PLASTIC OBJECTS INCLUDINGLENTICULAR LENS SHEETS,” filed May 5, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,555,which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/182,490entitled “METHOD OF BONDING LENTICULAR LENS SHEET TO PLASTIC OBJECTS ANDOBJECTS MADE FROM SAME,” filed Feb. 15, 2000, all of which areincorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the manufacture of plasticcontainers and objects, and more particularly, to a plastic objectshaving a lenticular lens sheet or insert. The fabrication methodincludes a process of bonding lenticular lens material to theconstituent plastic of the container or object during molding processeswithout damaging the lenticular lens materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Throughout the world, it is a common and growing practice to utilizeconventional plastic molded cups and containers to display promotionalmessages and to increase the market value of the cups and containers byadding images of sports figures, movie and television personalities, andother graphics. While the printing processes for producing thesemessages, images, and graphics have improved in recent years withadvances in printing technologies, the messages, characters, and othergraphics have generally remained two dimensional, static andnon-moveable. The expectations of purchasers of these containerscontinues to rise, and the general public continues to demand everincreasing and enhanced visual effects in all media. Specifically, theentertainment industry routinely licenses its proprietary images for useon cups, packaging, and containers of all types from plastic soda cupsto popcorn containers and their lids. The entertainment industry usesbright colors and molded shapes extensively to excite and interestconsumers and collectors of these containers. There continues to bepressure from movie makers, sports promoters and others in theentertainment industry to develop new products to better capture thepublic's attention for their promotions and licensed products.

In addition to problems with creating more exciting imagery, there aredesign restraints faced by plastic cup and container manufacturers thatmust be addressed in creating any new product. For example, in thetraditional plastic cup industry, the manufacturers are continuouslystruggling with the demands for a less expensive cup to make their useattractive as part of no-cost promotional campaigns (e.g., the cup isgiven away by a retailer with the purchase of soda, beer, or otherbeverage) and as a profitable standalone product. One method used toreduce cost is to reduce the amount or weight of plastic used in eachcup by thinning the cup wall and other methods. Reducing the weight ofplastic used reduces material costs and also makes the manufacturing(i.e., molding) of the cups faster and less expensive as the molds canbe filled more rapidly and the plastic cools in a shorter time. However,the desired for less material weight and wall thickness must be balancedwith the need for a cup with sufficient hoop strength. Hoop strength isa measure of the resistance of a cup to being squeezed shut or deformed.It is typically measured by adding weights or pressure to a point nearthe top of the cup on the outer surface of the side wall and measuringthe amount of deflection of the open end of the cup.

To further minimize the costs of containers, the inner and outersurfaces of the walls are typically kept smooth and their shape keptrelatively simple to minimize mold costs. These smooth surfaces alsohave been required because the typical method of plastic images andgraphics on containers and other plastic objects is with standardprinting processes, such as offset printing, that are most effective onsmooth printing surfaces.

The inventors and others in the plastic cup and container manufacturingindustry recognize the needs of the entertainment industry andunderstand the benefits of providing more visually appealing images andgraphics as part of promotional cup or container and other plasticproducts. In this regard, the inventors and others in the industrybelieve that these plastic products will be significantly improved byincluding a three dimensional (“3D”), action image provided with the useof lenticular lens material or sheets (i.e., interlaced segments ofimages combined with lenticular lenses to provide a variety of visualeffects such as motion, zooming in and out, and 3D effects). Forexample, a cup with Mark McGuire's 70^(th) home run or a favorite scenefrom a recent Star Wars movie provided in dramatic 3D in a durable,reusable container is appealing and interesting to consumers and seen asa break through to the entertainment industry.

The use of lenticular lens material is known in the printing industryfor use in creating promotional material and typically involvesproducing a sheet of lenticular lens material and adhesively attachingthe lenticular lens material to a separately produced object fordisplay. The production of lenticular lenses is well-known and describedin detail in a number of U.S. patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,032to Bravenec et al. In general, the production process includes selectingsegments from visual images to create a desired visual effect andinterlacing the segments (i.e., planning the layout of the numerousimages), lenticular lenses are then mapped to the interlaced or plannedsegments, and the lenticular lenses are fabricated according to thismapping. The lenticular lenses generally include a transparent web whichhas a flat side or layer and a side with optical ridges and groovesformed by lenticules (i.e., convex lenses) arranged side-by-side withthe lenticules or optical ridges extending parallel to each other thelength of the transparent web. To provide the unique visual effects, inkis applied or printed directly to the flat side of the transparent webto form the interlaced segments and forming a thin, generally opaque inklayer in the produced lenticular lens material or sheet.

While these lenticular lens materials provide excellent visual effects,the use of adhesives and other attachment methods has not proveneffective in producing a quality, long-lasting, and inexpensive plasticproducts. Because attaching the lenticular lens material after producingthe plastic cup or container is inefficient and relatively expensive,the plastic manufacturing industry desires a method for attaching thelenticular lens material to a plastic cup or container as part of thecup or container manufacturing process. Unfortunately, the plasticmanufacturing industry has not been able to overcome the problemsassociated with using common lenticular lens material as part ofstandard plastic fabrication processes. The problems arise becauseplastic fabrication generally includes processes such as injectionmolding that involve heating raw plastic materials to a relatively hightemperature (e.g., 400° to 500° F. or hotter) and then injecting thefluid plastic into a mold with the shape of the desired plastic objector by otherwise processing the molten plastic. While the transparent webof the lenticular material may not be damaged by these hightemperatures, the ink or ink layer has a chemistry that will not stayintact when the ink is heated to these high temperatures, and the imagewill be destroyed or at least significantly altered. Additionally, evenif the ink could withstand the heat of plastic fabrication processes,the plastic manufacturing industry has not been able to engineer aninexpensive and efficient attachment process that effectively bonds theink layer, and therefore, the lenticular lens material, to the plasticof the formed product.

Consequently, there remains a need for a method of fabricating plasticcontainers and other objects that includes lenticular lens material, andpreferably, a fabrication method that overcomes the problem of bondingthe lenticular lens material to plastic in a cost effective andstructurally acceptable manner. Additionally, there remains needs forplastic objects with improved physical characteristics that can bemanufactured inexpensively, such as a plastic cup with improved hoopstrength and less plastic weight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address the above discussed design constraints and the needs of theplastic manufacturing and entertainment industries, the inventionprovides an efficient and economical method to produce plastic objects,such as containers, with lenticular material included as an integralinsert. This method produces a unique plastic object with the featuresof 3D graphics and/or animated video clips showing a fraction of asecond to up to several seconds when viewing the lenticular insert fromthe outer surface of the plastic object. The object resulting from theprocess is a durable, one piece unit with outstanding graphics such asanimated video clips showing up to 3 to 5 seconds of live or computergenerated graphics or the latest 3D technology. The lenticular insertthat provides these unique visual imagery comprises generally lenticularmaterial having optical ridges and grooves on an outer surface and alayer or transparent web of lenses, which together create a relativelyrigid material with air passages or avoids. A layer is attached to theflat side of the transparent lens layer. The actual images arepre-printed in this ink layer on the back side or second surface of thepre-extruded or post-embossed plastic lens material which may be made ofa variety of plastic materials including, but not limited to, amorphouspolyethylene terephthalate (APET), flexible or rigid polyvinylchloride(PVC), styrene, and PETG (polyethylene terephthalate modified withcyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM)). The actual images are interlacedcorresponding to the frequency of the lenticular lens material (i.e.,the optical ridges and grooves and the transparent lens layer) and arethen printed using offset lithography, web, letterpress, digital,screen, or any other printing process. One method of printing to achievehigh quality is offset printing with ultraviolet (UV) cured inks.

According to one aspect of the invention, a plastic object is producedthat provides several beneficial features or characteristics desired bythe plastic manufacturing industry. For example, in one preferredembodiment, a container, such as a stadium-type cup, is provided with anouter wall that includes a lenticular insert. Preferably, the lenticularinsert is an integral part of the outer wall and extends around theperiphery of the wall to cover a significant portion of the outer wallsurface area. Due to the air voids, the lenticular insert acts as athermal barrier or an insulation layer that reduces heat transfer ratesthrough the outer wall and makes the container more useful for hot andcold service. Additionally, the optical ridges of the lenticular insertcause the insert to function as an attached gripping surface byincreasing the roughness of the outer wall (which in standard plasticcontainers is smooth). Because of the strength and rigidness of thelenticular insert, the outer wall of the container has high strength andspecifically, has improved hoop strength. Additionally, the strength andrigidness of the lenticular insert allows material in the outer wall tobe eliminated, thereby reducing the amount of raw plastic needed forforming the container. In the traditional cup business, the majormanufacturers are continuously trying to remove weight from the productto reduce material costs and to make the molds cycle faster (e.g.,weight reduction is one way to speed the cycle). Additionally, as willbecome clear from the discussion of the fabrication method of theinvention, inserting the lenticular insert into the mold prior toinjecting the molten plastic material allows the lenticular insert toact as a carrier and a stiffener for the molten material. This allowsthe manufacturer to open the mold faster to reduce cycle times andallows the wall thickness of the container to be reduced giving areduced part weight. A prototype of a standard-sized, stadium cupfabricated by the inventors had approximately 53 grams in molded plasticcontent which is an improvement over the prior art and it is expectedthat a plastic content of about 30 grams or less will provide acceptablestrength and durability. In other words, a container including thelenticular insert provides desirable strength characteristics withreduced container manufacturing times and molding-plastic materialcosts.

According to a related aspect of the invention, the container in apreferred embodiment includes a framing system to physically hold thelenticular insert against or within the outer wall of the container. Asnoted previously, the ink layer does not provide an effective bondingsurface for bonding with molten plastic in container fabricationprocesses (but, as will become clear, in a preferred embodiment of theinvention a protective substrate or laminate is applied to the ink layerto provide a bonding surface). The frame system provides one method ofovercoming this problem by including upper, lower, and seam framemembers that slightly overlap each of the edges of the lenticular insert(more frame members can be included if the lenticular insert has morethan four sides). Preferably, the seam frame member fills a small gapleft between the lenticular insert side edges and overlaps both sideedges. This configuration of the seam member is preferred to improve thestrength of the container because cracking may occur if the side edgeswere merely butted against each other. The frame members furtherfunction to protect exposed surfaces of the lenticular insert fromscratching and other damage during handling and storage (such asstacking or nesting of containers or cups) by providing a slightlyraised surface adjacent the exposed surface. The frame members arebonded to the outer wall of the container, and in this regard, apreferred method of forming the frame members is to configure the moldcavity for creating the frame members during the molding process whichmakes the frame members integral with the outer wall of the container.According to another aspect of the invention, a fabrication method isprovided that forms a 7plastic object, such as a container, with anintegral lenticular insert that includes processes for protecting theink lenticular insert. Typical plastic fabrication processes, such asinjection molding and blow molding, involve the heating of the rawplastic or charge material to high temperatures to make the plasticfluid or moldable but without further processes, these high temperatureswould also degrade or ruin the ink. In this regard, the fabricationmethod of the invention includes the step of applying and/or bonding aprotective substrate to and over the ink layer of the lenticular insertprior to inserting the lenticular insert into the mold cavity forplastic molding of the plastic object. The substrate may be formed usingnumerous materials such as coating materials and many plastics. Thesubstrate is preferably bonded to the ink in a manner that does notdegrade the ink but yet achieves a bond that will withstand thetemperatures and pressure experienced in the molding processes and, insome applications, in the later use of the container. Although adhesivesmay be used, one preferred embodiment involves a two step process inwhich a plastic hot melt or laminate is first applied to a carrier orliner sheet and then when cooled, the plastic, hot melt/laminate isactivated by heat and pressure applied to achieve a bond to the inklayer. In this fashion, a much lower temperature (i.e., a temperaturethat does not degrade the ink layer) can be used to bond the laminate tothe ink, as the laminate is not molten. The carrier is preferably aquick release liner that can be readily removed from the attachedlaminate and the laminate is exposed. The laminate acts as a thermallyprotective layer or substrate in later plastic molding processes suchthat the ink is not destroyed and a plastic object with a lenticularinsert can be readily formed using standard plastic processingtechniques.

According to a related aspect, the fabrication method of the inventionincludes providing a bonding surface on the lenticular insert that bondswith the molten plastic material used to form the plastic object. In apreferred embodiment, a plastic substrate is attached to the ink layerof the lenticular insert, and is a plastic selected, for example, frompolypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, and polyester. The lenticular insertis then positioned within a mold cavity, such as the cavity of a moldused in an injection molding tool, with the substrate facing inward andbeing exposed. In an embodiment employing injection molding, thematerial charge is heated to melt the plastic and the hot melted plasticis injected into the mold cavity under pressure to fill the mold cavity.The molten plastic contacts the plastic substrate melting an outerportion of the substrate. The mold cavity and its contents are thencooled and the injected plastic and the melted portion of the substrateform a bonding interface which securely bonds the lenticular insert tothe formed plastic object.

According to another related aspect, the fabrication method of theinvention includes a position retention process for retaining thelenticular insert within the mold cavity during molding processes. Forthe lenticular insert to provide a desirable visual effect, it isimportant that molten plastic not seep onto the optical ridges andtransparent lens layers of the lenticular insert. This seeping orbleeding can occur because the molten plastic is under high pressuresand seeks any cavity and passageway within the mold, such as under thepositioned lenticular insert. In one embodiment, the fabrication methodincludes the step of applying a strong suction or vacuum force to thelenticular insert to hold the optical ridges and transparent layers ofthe lenticular insert firmly against the outer walls of the mold cavityto prevent molten plastic from seeping onto the image portion of thelenticular insert. In another embodiment, the fabrication methodincludes the intermediary step of forming raised surfaces on thesubstrate of the lenticular insert prior to positioning the insertwithin the mold cavity. The raised surfaces allow molten plastic to flowonto the substrate for bonding but also abut a die or other surfacewithin the mold cavity such that the raised surfaces push outward on thelenticular insert when the insert is positioned within the mold cavityand the cavity is closed. The raised surfaces may be a plastic or othermaterial and preferably have a thickness approximately equal to thedesired thickness of the outer wall adjacent the lenticular insert.

Other features and advantages of the invention, including alternativemethods for providing a protective layer for the ink layer, for forcingthe lenticular insert against the outer walls of the mold cavity, andfor molding the container or other object from hot or liquid plastic,will be seen as the following description of particular embodiments ofthe invention progresses in conjunction with references to the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, and together with the descriptions serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic, molded cup with a lenticularlens insert bonded to the outer wall according to one preferred methodof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial sectional view of the cup of FIG. 1 takenalong line 2-2 illustrating the layers of the lenticular insertincluding a bonding and thermal protection layer according to theinvention and illustrating the framing feature of the present inventionat the seam of the lenticular insert.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, partial sectional view of the cup of FIG. 1 takenalong line 3-3 illustrating the upper and lower portions of the framefeature of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the general process steps of acontainer fabrication method according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an injection molding assembly according tothe present invention with the lenticular insert positioned with adeveloped vacuum against the outer walls of the mold cavity prior toinjection of liquid plastic into the mold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With the above summary of the invention in mind, the followingdescription discusses the inventive plastic objects according to theinvention that have an integral image visible due to a lenticular insertthat is uniquely included as an integral part of the plastic object. Thediscussion concentrates on the structural and other benefits andfeatures of a container having a lenticular insert in an outer wall,but, it should be understood that many other objects will similarlybenefit from the addition of a lenticular insert and are consideredwithin the scope of the invention. From the discussion of features of acontainer fabricated according to the invention, the discussion proceedsto a full discussion of the method of fabricating plastic objects havinga lenticular insert integrally bonded to the plastic that forms thebody, walls, or some other portion of the object. Again, the discussionwill specifically explain the steps in fabricating a container with alenticular insert bonded to an outer wall. Of course, these same orsimilar steps within the breadth of the method of the invention can beemployed to fabricate any number of other plastic objects having alenticular insert.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, a container 10 according to the invention isillustrated. As will become clear, the container 10 includes a number offeatures that specifically address problems that the plasticmanufacturing industry has faced in container design and provides otherbeneficial features. According to one important aspect of the container10, a lenticular insert 20 is included and attached to an outer wall 12of the container 10 to provide a number of desirable structural and heattransfer characteristics as well as enhanced visual effects on thecontainer 10. The lenticular insert 20 typically functions to provide animage with 3D features, movement, zoom in and out, and othercharacteristics. In this regard, the lenticular insert 20 preferablyextends substantially around the entire periphery of the wall 12covering a large portion of the outer wall 12 surface area. To provideenhanced imagery, the lenticular insert 20 includes lenticular lensmaterial and ink which can be thought of as comprising three layers ofmaterial, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3: an outer surface layer of opticalridges 22 with corresponding optical grooves, an interior, transparentlayer 24 having numerous lenses forming air channels 26 in the layer 24,and an ink layer 28 printed onto the flat surface of the transparentlayer 24. Additionally, bonding and thermal protection layer 30 isbonded to the ink layer 28 to provide a bonding surface with the outerwall 12 of the container 10 and to thermally protect the ink layer 28during plastic fabrication processes (both functions will be discussedin detail in connection with the container fabrication process).

The extruded lens material of layer 24 and ridges 22 is generally madeof PETG, APET, PVC, OFP, or any other plastic that has a good qualityrefractive index. During fabrication, the lens material (i.e., the flatsurface of layer 24) may be pre-coated with a primer to ensure betteradhesion of the ink 28 throughout the process of fabricating thecontainer 10 (explained below in connection with FIG. 4). This primarymay be water-based, solvent-based, or UV-curable. Excellent ink 28adhesion is critical, as the ink must hold to the transparent layer 24for the entire container fabrication process. The pre-coating with aprimer may be done via web or sheet fed operations or other suitableapplication methods.

During fabrication of the lenticular insert 20, the pre-extruded lensmaterial 24 and 22 is then printed on the reverse side or second surfaceof layer 24 via web or offset press operations to form ink layer 28. Thelens layer 24 is printed with corresponding interlaced images inconjunction with the appropriate mathematics of the lens materials 24and 22. The mathematics preferably not only matches the lens material 24and 22 but also the distortion caused by the final shape of the piece(i.e., often not a flat surface). In the case of a cup or other conicalshaped object, the lens or optical ridges 22 “open up” and create a newmathematical pitch. This pitch is predetermined before plates are madeand printing occurs so that the lenticular insert 20 can be viewed inits final form. As a result of this process of accommodating fornon-planar surfaces or orientations, the image or images on thelenticular inserts 20 will not appear correctly (i.e., will bedistorted) when coming off of the printing equipment in flat sheets orweb form.

The use of a relatively large lenticular insert 20 relative to thesurface area of the outer wall 12 serves several important purposes. Asdiscussed previously, the manufacturers of plastic containers and cupsare continuously searching for container and cup designs that reducemanufacturing costs by reducing material costs. In this regard, thelenticular insert 20 is preferably a substantially rigid sheet ofplastic material having an overall thickness of about 8 mils to about 25mils or more (depending on the materials used and the complexity of theimages created) that when inserted into the outer wall 12 of thecontainer 10 acts to provide strength to the container 10. Due, at leastin part, to the optic ridges 22, the lenticular insert 20 creates amechanical support which, when over-molded by the plastic resin of theouter wall 12 as a backing, supports and stiffens the outer wall 12 ofthe container 10, thereby giving the container 10 increased hoopstrength. One benefit of this improved hoop strength is that thematerial costs of the container 10 can be maintained while obtaining acontainer 10 with an improved hoop strength. More likely and morepreferably, the size of the lenticular insert 20 is large enough thatplastic equal or greater than the volume of the lenticular insert 20 canbe omitted during fabrication of the outer wall 12 in places where thelenticular insert 20 is positioned because the insert 20 provides morethan sufficient strength to account for the omitted wall 12 material.The resulting, lighter (in plastic) container 12 has the same or betterhoop strength than a standard container without an insert and with alarger amount of plastic in the outer wall 12. Of course, thedesirability of a container 10 with increased hoop strength will beobvious to any consumer who has held a full plastic cup of liquid andbeen concerned that if they hold it anywhere near the open end that theliquid will be squeezed out of the container 10.

In traditional cups or containers, the side wall of each cup is smoothso that it can be offset print and because any grooves added to providea consumer a better gripping surface significantly increase the cost ofthe mold (and make printing on the wall difficult or impossible). Byincluding the lenticular insert 20 on the outer wall 12 with printingalready in place on the side wall of a cup, the optical ridges 22function to enhance the ability of a consumer or user to grip the outerwall 12 of the container 10 by providing a relatively rough grippingsurface while eliminating any printing problems associated with roughsurfaces because the lenticular insert 20 is “pre-printed.”Additionally, the optical grooves help to collect and remove or drainany condensation on the outer surfaces of the cup wall that might makeit more difficult for a user of the container 10 to grip the outersurface of the outer wall 12. In this manner, the lenticular insert 20can be thought of as an inserted or attached gripping surface to thecontainer 10.

The lenticular insert 20 preferably is configured to provide a thermalbarrier or layer of lower heat transfer rates compared with a standardplastic container outer wall. This typically includes some air or othergas passages or simple air grooves rather than only solid layers ofplastic material. In this regard, a number of lens layouts andconfigurations may be used (e.g., more irregular than the air channels26 shown in FIG. 2). As illustrated, a preferred embodiment of thelenticular insert 20 includes the air channels 26 which typicallycontain air and which create an effective thermal barrier on the outerwall 12 of the container 10. This thermal barrier created by thelenticular insert 20 functions to reduce heat transfer from and to thecontents of the container 20, which enhances the container's usefulnessfor hot and cold service (i.e., holding hot and cold liquids). In apreferred embodiment, about 35% or more of the outer wall 12 surfacearea is covered by the lenticular insert 20 to provide the thermalbarrier.

According to another important feature of the container 10, thecontainer 10 includes a framing system or picture frame of plasticmaterial that functions to physically bond the lenticular insert 20 tothe outer wall 12 of the container 10. The frame system furthereliminates seams between the mating edges of the lenticular insert 20and rough mating surfaces or seams between the lenticular insert 20 andthe outer wall 12. By providing these functions, the framing systemovercomes structural weaknesses that may be present at the seam wherethe lenticular insert 20 mates when wrapped around the container 10.This strength problem, which can lead to cracking is a significantconcern in conical or frustoconical shaped objects such as a typicalplastic cup. In general, the framing system comprises an overlap ofplastic material over each of the side edges of the lenticular insert20. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the framing system includes an upperframe member 14 overlapping the upper edge of the lenticular insert 20on the optical ridges 22 for a depth, du, and a lower frame member 16overlapping the lower edge of the lenticular insert 20 on the opticalridges 22 for a depth, dL. As illustrated, a preferred embodiment of thecontainer 10 is configured such that the side edges of the lenticularinsert 20 are slightly spaced apart (i.e., for a distance of about ¼inch or less). This space is filled with a seam frame member 18 thatoverlaps the lenticular insert 20 on optical ridges 22 for a width, w.

The frame members 14, 16, and 18 can take a number of shapes which aretypically defined by the mating surface of the optical ridge 22, and maybe, as illustrated, a beveled member with a triangular cross-section.The frame members 14, 16, and 18 preferably are fabricated from the samematerial as the outer wall 12 and are bonded to the outer wall 12.Typically, this bonding will occur as part of the fabrication processwhen the frame members 14, 16, and 18 are formed during the same processas the outer wall (e.g., injection of the plastic into a mold cavity) orwill occur when the outer wall 12 is formed if the frame members 14, 16,and 18 are performed in a separate process step (i.e., form the framemembers 14, 16, and 18 and bond them to the lenticular insert 20 priorto forming the outer wall 12). The amount of the overlap, w, du, and dL,will depend on a number of factors such as the weight and thickness ofthe lenticular insert 20 and the strength characteristics of thematerial used for the frame members 14, 16, and 18. In one embodiment,the overlaps, w, du, and dL, are the same and are approximately 0.060inches or less, but it should be understood that these overlaps maydiffer from each other (e.g., w may be less than or greater than du, anddL or vice versa) and may be larger than used in this embodiment.

In other embodiments not illustrated, the potential weakness in thecontainer 10 where the lenticular insert 20 butts together is handleddifferently. In one alternate embodiment, a bevel is formed on each sideedge of the lenticular insert 20. The beveled edges have a shape (e.g.,a 45° bevel) to provide good strength characteristics and preferablyhave an adequate depth to provide an overlapping mating surface thatprovides increased structural strength. In one embodiment, the depth ofthe overlap is equal to the thickness of the lenticular insert 20. Thebeveling can be achieved in a number of ways such as by shaving off partof the material of the lenticular insert 20 on both side edges creatinga beveled overlap. In another alternate embodiment, a “zipper” likestructure is created at the seam formed between the side edges of thelenticular insert 20. The zipper pattern formed on each side edge of thelenticular insert 20 is positioned and mated together prior tofabrication such as in the mold cavity for the container 10 (or beforethe part is placed in the mold cavity). Clearly, a large number of otherinterweaving shapes and mating techniques may be used to practice theinvention and obtain the beneficial features of the container 10 (i.e.,overcoming the weakness inherent in a butt joint between the side edgesof the lenticular insert 20).

As a result of the features discussed above, the container 10 is adurable, one-piece part with excellent graphics with improved physicalstrength characteristics, a thermal barrier, improved gripping, andreduced plastic material cost and manufacturing time cost. While a cupwas shown for the container 10, it should be understood that the shapeof the container that may be fabricated to obtain some of the abovebenefits may vary widely, with one of the key features being theaddition of the lenticular insert 20. In this regard, the lenticularinsert 20 was illustrated with a specific 3-layer embodiment for clarityof description, but lenticular materials and lens material with myriadconfigurations are readily available and many, if not all, of theavailable configurations may be used as the lenticular insert 20. Thesesubstitutions are considered within the breadth of the invention andwould only require minor changes to the design of the containers 10(such as a change in the length of overlaps in the framing system andthe like). With an understanding of the unique features of an object(i.e., the container 10) that includes a lenticular insert on an outerwall, it now will be useful to fully discuss the method of makingcontainers (and other objects) according to the invention.Significantly, the following method of fabrication provides a uniquemethod of bonding a lenticular insert to molten plastic wherein the inkor ink layer of the lenticular insert is not ruined or altered.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the general steps and features of a method 40of fabricating a container (such as container 10 of FIG. 1) isillustrated. The fabrication method 40 starts at 42 with the generalplanning of the visual imagery to be provided with a lenticular insertand the size, shape, and material of the container upon or within whichthe lenticular insert will be bonded. For the following example, thefabrication of container 10 of FIG. 1 will be discussed with the bondingof the lenticular insert 20. Once this beginning planning step 42 iscompleted, the fabrication method 40 continues at 44 with themanufacture of sheets of lenticular material. The physical design andmake up of these sheets were discussed above in connection with theconfiguration of the lenticular insert 20 of the container 10 and can beseen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Typically, the lenticular material sheet willinclude transparent plastic optical ridges 22, a transparent lens layer24 or web, and an applied ink or ink layer 28. The actual printing ofthe lenticular piece may be 3D or animated and the lens format (e.g.,the combination of ridges 22 and layer 24) may be vertical orhorizontal. In a vertical format, 3D images and movement can be viewed,while with the horizontal format only motion will be viewable. Thefabrication of lenticular material sheets as in step 44 is well known bythose skilled in the printing arts and does not need to be discussed indepth at this point. Lenticular material fabrication is described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,967,032 to Bravenec et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,344to Jacobsen which are incorporated herein by reference. Additionally,the method of laying out or arranging inserts (or labels) for a conicalcontainer such as container 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No.5,908,590 to Yoshimi et al. which is incorporated herein by referencewhich is directed to producing labels for foamed resin containers. Inthis manner, the patterns for a number of lenticular inserts can bearranged on a large sheet of lenticular material that can be furtherprocessed within the same processing line or in a separate processingsystem.

The next step of the container fabrication process 40 is to ensure thatlenticular inserts 20 cut from the lenticular material sheet produced instep 44 can bond to the liquid plastic in a mold (i.e., during step 52of process 40) or other plastic fabrication or processing step. Theinventors recognize that here are two significant problems to overcomein using lenticular material as an insert in the plastic fabricationprocess 40. First, the printing ink used in typical lenticular materialsheet manufacturing processing does not have chemistry compatible tobond to the hot (e.g., approximately 500° F.) plastic, such as theplastic used to form the outer wall 12 of the container 10. Second, evenif the ink in layer 28 was able to bond to the plastic, the inks used toprint layer 28 on the lenticular material sheet are typically not ableto hold up to high temperatures experienced in standard moldingprocesses such as injection molding and blow molding and are ruined orsubstantially degraded.

According to an important aspect of the invention, the containerfabrication process 40 includes unique processes that protect theapplied ink 28 from the high temperatures and that also provide abonding surface between the lenticular material in the produced sheetand the molten plastic used to form the outer wall 12 of the container10. As back ground, the inventors first believed that one method ofproviding these protection and bonding features would be to employ thehot melt polyethylene chemistry typically used in the film laminatingindustry. Consequently, the inventors first attempted to find a way toplace a layer of hot melt polyethylene over the ink side 28 of the lensmaterial 22 and 24. Unfortunately, this technique presented problems asthe temperature required for flow out of the polyethylene onto thepre-printed lenticular lens material sheet destroyed the ink 28 on thelens material layer 24 or at the very least loosened its bond to thelens material layer 24.

The inventors then identified a preferred solution to providing thermalprotection for the ink 28 and providing a bonding surface, which isrepresented as step 46 of the process 40. According to the inventivestep 46, a bonding and protective substrate 30 is applied to the inklayer 28 of the produced lenticular material sheet. In one embodiment,this application process 46 involves first coating in web form in a tollcoating operation hot melt poly material to a carrier or throwaway liner(not shown) and then second, applying or bonding the hot melt polymaterial to the printed lens material (i.e., to ink layer 28) in aseparate process or substep. Significantly, this second step can beaccomplished at much lower temperatures than with the hot melt flowtechniques discussed above. The temperatures required for activation mayvary with the materials used for the hot melt poly and the carrier orliner and their thickness but in a preferred embodiment the activationtemperature is in the range of 190° to 250° F., and more preferably inthe range of about 210° to 225° F. This second step functions to formthe bonding and thermal protection substrate 30, as illustrated in FIGS.2 and 3, which is firmly and substantially permanently bonded to the inklayer 28. Polyester compounds may be used for the carrier or liner maybe utilized as the carrier because polyesters easily stand up to theheat in the hot melt coating portion of step 46 (i.e., a prefab substepcompleted prior to applying the substrate 30) but, of course, othermaterials may be utilized for the liner. The inventors have found thisprefab substep process to be efficient and economical because of the lowmaterial costs and because it can be run or completed at high speeds.

Since the hot melt poly is later applied or bonded to the lenticularmaterial sheet (against ink layer 28) in a separate operation, thepolyester carrier or liner (not shown) preferably has thecharacteristics of a quick and non-damaging release liner. In otherwords, the side of the liner in which the hot melt poly is applied musthave a low surface tension so that the hot melt poly does notpermanently mate to the polyester or other material of the liner. Toattach or bond the hot melt-liner combination, i.e., the laminate, tothe lenticular material sheet, the backside of the liner (i.e., theportion away from the lenticular material sheet) is heated as the entirelaminate is placed with pressure onto the back side (the printed side28) of the lenticular lens material sheet.

More specifically, in one embodiment, the carrier or release liner ismanufactured from a polyester material that can withstand the heatgenerated from the web coating process used to coat the polyester linerwith the hot melt poly. During the web coating process, the polyesterliner is coated with a polyethylene blend at about 400° F., which is ahigh enough temperature to achieve flow of the resin. Approximately 0.5to 3 mils of polyethylene is placed on the polyester liner with thethickness accurately measured and controlled. More preferably, thethickness of the hot poly (which becomes the bonding and thermalprotection substrate 30) is 2.5 mils to provide an adequate thermalbarrier for the ink 28 and a good anchor and bonding surface on thelenticular insert 20. During the lamination process, the polyester ofthe liner is heater so that the opposite side (i.e., the polyethylene)is heated to the temperature point of becoming semi-liquid and sticky ortacky. The polyethylene typically begins to transform at about 180° F.and the window or range for proper lamination is generally between 190and 300° F. In one operating mode of the invention, polyethylene (withthe polyester liner) is applied to the ink 28 side of the lenticularinsert 20 at temperatures between about 220 and 250° F. at applicationor feed rates of about 100 to 200 feet per minute. As a result of thisapplication process, the laminate and the lenticular material sheet forminto one piece. Next, either in line with the process or aftersufficient cooling, the throw away liner portion of the laminate isremoved from the lenticular material sheet leaving a very accuratelymeasured amount of hot melt material bonded over the ink 28, therebyforming the bonding and thermal protection substrate 30 of thelenticular insert 20.

In order to do this as an in-line process, sufficient cooling may beachieved by placing the laminate and lenticular material sheet over achill roller for a cooling period before the liner is removed to leavethe hot melt 30 intact over the ink 28. In one embodiment of thefabrication method 40, the linear has a silicon treatment (oralternatively, some other type of release chemistry may be used) appliedto the side of the liner that mates with the hot melt poly to allow theliner to readily from the hot melt poly 30 and stay attached to the ink28 in the process. One reason that this process works well is due, atleast in part, to the fact that the temperatures required to activatethe hot melt poly for bonding to the ink 28 are only around 200° F.,whereas to get poly material to flow out in prior art methods of thinfilm laminating requires much higher temperatures that would bedetrimental to the ink used in the lenticular material sheet. The typeof equipment used to perform above steps may be a Bellhoffer, D K or anytype of thermal laminator with higher speed laminator devices beingpreferred to reduce manufacturing costs.

Because the substrate application step 46 is a key feature of the methodof the invention, it may be helpful to more fully discuss theapplication of the substrate 30 and to discuss alternative processesthat may be used as part of step 46. After the lenticular material sheetis manufactured in step 44 (i.e., pre-coated and printed, yet still insheet form or roll form), the sheet can be laminated with a variety ofsubstrates to provide the bonding the thermal protection features of theinvention. In this regard, the in-mold process (i.e., plastic moldingprocess 52) generally requires that the inks 28 are protected, andaccording to the invention this is achieved by placing a substrate 30between the inks 28 and the hot molding material (the molten plastic)used to form the outer wall 12 of the container 10. As previouslydiscussed, this molding material may be polypropylene, styrene,polyethylene (such as HDPE), PVC, or a number of other plastics that aresuitable for use in injection and blow molding processes. Consequently,the substrate 30 applied in the above discussed hot melt poly-linerprocess 46 preferably comprises a material that readily bonds to theseplastics such as, but not limited to, polypropylene, polyester, PVC,polycarbonate, and APET.

It is important to the fabrication method of the invention that twothings occur: (1) the inks 28 must be protected from the extreme heat ofthe molten plastic in the molding process 52 so that they are notdamaged and (2) the surface of the lenticular insert 20 that abuts theouter wall 12 must be compatible with the injection or other moldingprocess (in other words, the process 40 needs to provide an adequate orvery favorable bond to the molten plastic used in the injection or othermolding process 52). Therefore, the standard ink used to create inklayer 28 on the back of the lens layer 24 is not suitable for thispurpose.

As an alternate to the lamination process for applying the substrate 30discussed above, the substrate 30 may be applied by other techniquesthat effectively attach the substrate 30 to the ink 28 while eliminatingthe liner application and removal steps discussed above. In thisalternative step 46, the poly material forming the substrate 30 isapplied directly to the back of the lens layer 24 over the ink 28without the liner or carrier. In this alternative step 46, the polymaterial of the substrate 30 may be applied in a number of waysincluding, but not limited to, with the use of a thermal adhesive, a hotmelt adhesive, or a pressure sensitive adhesive. In addition, there maybe other liquid chemistry adhesives in the urethane and epoxy areas thatmay in some embodiments be useful with the invention. Further, thesubstrate 20 may instead be another material that achieves the bondingand thermal protection goals while allowing for an alternate applicationstep 46. For example, coatings may be used for the substrate 30 toaccomplish the same goal in the molding processs as the poly laminates.While generally more difficult to use, coatings can provide thefunctions of protecting the ink 28 while providing a surface thatprovides for bonding the piece during the injection or other moldingprocess 52. The following coatings may be useful as the substrate 30: UVcurable, solvent-based, electron beam (E-beam) curable, and water-basedcoatings. The thickness of these coatings needed to the rmally protectthe ink 28 and, in some applications, to bond to the outer wall 12material in the holding processed will vary with each material, butgenerally, a coating substrate 30 has a thickness between 0.5 and 2.0mils. Any of these coatings may be applied to the part or sheet with avariety of methods and equipment such as: roller coating equipment,blanket coating equipment (such as on a press), screen equipment, andspray equipment.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the fabrication process 40 continues at 48wherein the lenticular inserts 20 are cut or otherwise removed fromlenticular material sheets now having the bonding and thermal protectionsubstrate 30 attached and with or without the liner. At 48, thelenticular material sheet is further processed and/or cut to formlenticular inserts 20 with the desired shape for the in-mold processstep 52. Typically, step 48 is completed with a quillotine cutter forsquare and rectangular pieces and a die cutter for other shapes such asthe lenticular insert 20 illustrated. After the lenticular insert 20 isdie cut or otherwise formed, the throw away liner (if attached to thesubstrate 30) is removed so that the hot melt poly material of substrate30 is exposed. Alternatively, the liner may be removed in an in-lineapplication in the process 40 prior to step 48.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the lenticular insert 20 is then placedvia hand or robotics into a mold cavity 90 of a mold 80 portion of amolding tool 60 (an injection molding assembly is illustrated but othermolding devices, such as a blow molding assembly, may be used). The moldcavity 90 of the molding tool 60 is specifically configured toaccommodate the lenticular insert 20. The lenticular insert 20 is placedin the mold cavity 90 so that the hot melt poly side or substrate 30 ofthe lenticular insert 20 is exposed to the molten plastic in the moldcavity 90 during step 52.

At 52, the container 10 is molded. In one embodiment, the molding step52 is completed by plastic injection molding processes. Referring toFIG. 5, an injection molding tool 60 is illustrated that is configuredfor molding containers 10 with a lenticular insert 20. As illustrated,the injection molding tool 60 in a single-stage reciprocating screw typewhich tends to thoroughly prepare material for injection and often arefaster, but, clearly, other injection molding tools may be utilized suchas a conventional single-stage plunger type or a two-stage plunger orscrew-plasticisor type. During operation the raw plastic (i.e., thematerial charge of thermoplastic material) 72 is fed into the materialhopper 70 where it contacts the injector screw 74. As the screw 74 isturned by the screw drive motor 62, the screw 74 is pushed backward (tothe right in FIG. 5) and the material charge 72 is forced into thechamber 76 of the heating cylinder 68. When enough material 72 to fillthe mold cavity 90 has been prepared (i.e., heated to between 300 and700° F. depending on the type of plastic), the screw drive motor 62 isshut off to stop turning the screw 74. The pull-in cylinder 66 isoperated to move the screw 74 on the slide 64 to ram the material charge72 through the inlet nozzle 78 into the mold cavity 90 of the mold 80.

The plastic liquid resin 72 is injected into the mold cavity 90 definedby the passages between and within the mold top 82, the mold body 84,and the center die 88. The plastic 72 is injected under high heat andpressure (5000 to 50,000 psi) and contacts the exposed portions of thelenticular insert 20. The hot melt poly material of the substrate 30,when exposed to the liquid plastic 72 (at around 500° F. but may bevaried depending on the polymer used for the liquid plastic or materialcharge 72), is activated substantially immediately and at least theouter portion of the substrate 30 exposed to the liquid plastic 72becomes a liquid. The exposed and heated portion of the substrate 30remains a liquid for a very brief time and then re-solidifies in themold as the entire container 10 cools in step 54. This process createsan almost instant and substantially permanent bond at the interface 32between the lenticular insert 20 and outer wall 12 of the container 10.The thin layer of hot melt poly of substrate 30 bonded to the lenticularinsert 20 acts to thermally insulate the ink 28 protect the ink from theheat and physically protect the ink 28 from the pressure of the process,thereby leaving the ink 28 intact. The thickness of the substrate 30 canvary significantly with the type of material used but is preferablyminimized to control costs and allow the insert 20 to be an integralpart of the outer wall 12, and in one embodiment, the substratethickness is maintained in the range of 1 to 3 mils.

In some applications, there are small changes in the mathematics of thelenticular insert 20 that may occur in the process due to the heat andpressure of the process and need to be compensated or planned for in theinitial printing and fabrication processed of steps 42 and 44.Additionally, the framing system discussed previously is created in thismolding step 52, and the lenticular insert 20 is formed to leave flowpaths for the molten plastic to form frame members 14, 16, and 18 (seamframe member 18 being formed due to a gap or flow path between the sideedges of the lenticular insert 20 that is formed when the lenticularinsert 20 is placed within the mold cavity 90 and the vacuum is applied,as discussed below).

At 54, the injected material in the mold 80 is allowed to cool withinmold 80 until it has hardened adequately. At this point, the hardenedand formed container 20 with an integrally bonded lenticular insert 20is ejected by the ejector 86 positioned in the mold body 84, and thecontainer fabrication process 40 is ended at 56 (with removal of flashand the undesired top portion of the container 10 resulting from theinlet flow passages of the mold 80) According to a significant featureof the fabrication process 40, the outer surfaces (i.e., the opticalridges 22 are forcefully positioned in abutting contact with the outerwalls of the mold cavity 90. This is important because the failure to doso results in molten plastic material 72 making its way to the front ofthe lenticular insert 20 and “bleeding” onto the optical ridges 22,thereby preventing a portion of the image from being seen and creatingundesirably ragged plastic seams and framing. In order to preventseeping of molten plastic 72, the following position retentionprocesses, among other retention techniques, may be employed as part ofthe plastic molding step 52.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the molding tool 60 isconfigured so that it holds the lenticular insert 20 tightly to the wallof the mold cavity 90 by the development and application of a vacuum. Inthis manner, the molten plastic 72 is blocked from flowing into theoptical ridges 22 and is limited to flow paths that form the shape andouter wall 12 of the container 10. This may be done by configuring themolding tool to develop a vacuum at the outside walls of the tool topull the lenticular insert 20 firmly against the outer walls of the moldcavity 90 prior to beginning the injection of molten plastic. Of course,the vacuum developed must be strong enough to overcome any forces andpressures that are placed on the lenticular part during the injectionprocess. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the vacuum is created in a vacuumchamber 96 that encircles the mold 80 and is formed within the vacuumhousing 92 which is attached to the mold body 84. A vacuum hose 94 is incommunication with the vacuum chamber 96 to provide the necessarysuction to establish (and also to release) the vacuum. The vacuum orsuction forces are applied to the lenticular insert 20 through vacuumpassages 98 and 100 which are in fluid communication with the vacuumchamber 96 and the lenticular insert 20. While any number and locationof vacuum passages may be used, in one embodiment, two vacuum passages98, 100 that are circular to contact the lenticular insert 20 atsubstantially its entire circumference and at the two ends of thelenticular insert 20 are utilized. A number of designs may be used forthe vacuum passages 98, 100 such as a fully or partially open air flowchannel in the mold body 84. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, aporous plastic material is utilized to provide a controlled flow of airwhile also minimizing any flow of resin plastic 72 that may potentiallybegin to enter the vacuum passages 98, 100.

In a second preferred embodiment (not illustrated), a position retentionmethod provides a solution to the plastic seeping problem through theadded step of applying buttons, projected slots, or other raisedsurfaces to the substrate 30 side of the lenticular insert 20 prior toinsertion into the mold cavity 90. When the lenticular insert 20 havingthe buttons or raised surfaces is positioned within the mold cavity 90and the center die 88 is positioned, the buttons or raised surfacesabuttingly contact the center die 88 and are pushed outward toward theouter walls of the mold cavity 90, thereby forcing the optical ridges 22against the mold cavity 90 walls and cutting off any seepage flow paths.

The buttons or lots preferably are arranged symmetrically around thelenticular insert 20 and in conical shaped objects, such as cups and thecontainer 10, are primarily needed at the portion of the lenticularinsert 20 nearer the inlet nozzle 78 where the liquid plastic 72 isinserted and pressure is greater. The thickness of these buttons orslots preferably is selected to be approximately, if not exactly, thesame as the object thickness in some applications or as illustrated theouter wall 12 thickness (less the thickness of the lenticular sheet orother insert). The projecting buttons or slots are typically made of aplastic material that is compatible with the material used in theinjection molded process. In many cases, it is preferable to usematerial identical to the material used in the molded object.

The small buttons or slots are attached to the lenticular insert 20prior to insertion into the mold 80. They may be applied in a variety ofways, from hand application to an automated, self-feeding machine. Thebuttons or slots may be applied using pressure sensitive glue, or anyappropriate adhesive. In addition to using pre-made buttons or slots,the desired raised or spacer surfaces may be formed with any type of hotor liquid (may be an epoxy) material placed on the lenticular insert 20(as a part of the initial fabrication in step 44 or after the cut outstep 48). This would allow a droplet of molten plastic or some type ofpolymer with enough body to remain three dimensional and not flow outonto the part. The droplet of liquid or molten plastic could cure or drypartially while remaining pliable and soft enough to be deformed orflattened in the process with a calendaring roller which flattens theraised surface to the exact height needed for the molding process 52(about or exactly the thickness of the wall 12 of the container or othermolded object).

In this embodiment of the position retention process, the secondaryparts (or buttons) can be applied quickly and economically and in a veryautomated process. In raised surface attachment process, the lenticularmaterial sheet or the lenticular inserts 20 would be moving on aconveyor system and dots, slots, or buttons of liquid material would beapplied. A few feet down the conveyor, the sheets or inserts 20 wouldrun under a roller in which the liquid dots, slots, or buttons would becalendared or flattened to the desired level or thickness accuratelyprior to the dots, slots, or buttons curing or drying (forming)completely. Calendaring processes are quite accurate and maintain thethickness necessary to provide the lenticular material sheet orlenticular insert 20 along with the dots, slots, or buttons that allowsthe sheet or part to be held in place against the outside of the moldcavity 90, thereby preventing undesired filling of the molten or liquidplastic 72 on the front side or visual side (i.e., on the optical ridges22) of the lenticular insert 20 by holding the lenticular insert 20tightly under pressure to the mold cavity 90 walls.

Those skilled in the plastic fabrication arts will understand that theinvention method 40 may be practiced with other plastic moldingtechniques and the invention is not limited to injection molding forstep 52. For example, molding step 52 may be achieved with blow moldingtechniques. In this mode of operation (not illustrated), a heated lengthof thermoplastic material shaped as a tube (called a parison) is placedon an air nozzle between the halves of an open mold (although theparison may be extruded within the cavity on some molding machines). Thelenticular insert 20 is inserted within the cavities of the mold and themold is closed to pinch shut the open end of the parison opposite theair nozzle. Air is then blown into the parison to force the parison toexpand such that the still hot thermoplastic material contacts thesubstrate 30 of the lenticular insert 20 forming a bond at interface 32between the outer wall 12 of the container 10.

Of course, blow molding is more appropriate for hollow plastic objectssuch as squeeze bottles and the like rather than for objects shaped likecontainer 10. In this regard, it should be noted in the above discussionof a process according to the invention a container was fabricated forsimplicity of illustration and discussion and because of the particulareffectiveness of the inventive method in forming such cups withlenticular inserts. However, the inventive fabrication method issimilarly useful in fabricating any plastic object having a lenticularinsert bonded to a surface. The important features of the inventivemethod are that the ink of the lenticular material is protected and thata unique bonding surface is provided between the lenticular material andthe molten plastic.

Obviously, a complete list of the large number of plastic items thatcannot be provided herein, but the following is a representativesampling of the type of plastic objects that can be fabricated with thefabrication method of the invention: containers of shapes and sizes,credit, debit, and money cards, telephone cards, prepared purchasingcards, identification cards, video and audio medium containers, toys,watches, book and literature covers, trading cards, decorations, and thelike.

The foregoing description is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous modificationsand changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and processshown and described above. For example, although the container 10 wasfabricated such that the lenticular insert 20 was held to the outer wall12 with a framing system and by bonding between substrate 30 and theouter wall 12 at interface 32, many applications can be imagined whereinonly one of these features of the invention would be used to hold orbond the lenticular insert 20 to the container or other plastic object.Consequently, the use of only one of these techniques to produce aplastic object with a lenticular insert is within the disclosure andbreadth of the invention.

Additionally, according to the method of the invention, the ink of thelenticular insert is protected from extreme heat, and this thermalprotection would also be provided to other heat sensitive devices thatcould be laminated within the lenticular insert 20 (such as between thelens layer 24 and the substrate 30). These devices may be useful forfurther enhancing the images provided with the lenticular insert 20 andmay be used to provide movement, changes in color, provide light, andeven interactivity. Such included devices may include flat batteries topower included intelligence, sound chips, lighting pipes or otherlighting devices, and other miniature electronic devices. Additionally,it is often desirable to add coding or numbering to a collector's cup orobject to control counterfeiting, and the above fabrication process mayreadily include steps that number or otherwise identify the fabricatedobject (e.g., by adding a number to the ink layer of the lenticularinsert 20) to make the object unique and more desirable as acollectable. Similarly, this coding or numbering can be used to encode asweepstakes context number or security number (i.e., variable data) onthe ink layer 28 which is not exposed. The ink layer 28 is protectedfrom damage or tampering once the container or object is formed by theplastic of the container or object and by the lens layers 22, 24,thereby, controlling counterfeiting and copying to increase security andretaining the high quality image of the lenticular insert 20 for alonger period (i.e., increasing the service life of the lenticularinsert 20 as wear from normal use, such as placing a container in adishwasher, does not occur on the protected ink layer 28). Further,intermediary steps of the fabrication process 40 may in some cases beeliminated while still practicing the disclosed invention.

Accordingly, resort may be made to all suitable modifications andequivalents that fall within the scope of the invention as defined bythe claims when follow. The words “comprise,” “comprise,” “comprising,”“include,” “including,” and “includes” when used in this specificationand in the following claims are intended to specify the presence ofstated features, integers, components, or steps, but they do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, components, steps, or groups thereof.

1. A plastic product fabricated according to a method comprising:providing a lenticular lens material sheet comprising a lenticular lenslayer having a first surface and a second surface, and an ink layerbonded to the second surface of the lenticular lens layer; bonding asubstrate layer to the ink layer; cutting a lenticular insert from theresulting bonded lenticular lens material sheet; positioning thelenticular insert in a mold cavity of a plastic molding assembly;operating the plastic molding assembly to process a plastic materialcharge into the mold cavity to form the plastic object; and cooling andejecting the plastic product from the mold cavity wherein at least aportion of the substrate layer bonds to the plastic material chargeduring the operating of the plastic molding assembly, and the substratelayer thermally isolates the ink layer during the operating of theplastic molding assembly.
 2. The plastic product according to claim 1,wherein the molding temperature is in the range of 300° to 700° F. 3.The plastic product according to claim 1, wherein the plastic materialcharge is selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, styrene,polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride.
 4. The plastic product accordingto claim 1, wherein the substrate layer is selected from the groupconsisting of polypropylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride,polycarbonate, amorphous polyethylene terephthalate, ultraviolet-curablecoatings, solvent-based coatings, electron beam curable coatings, andwater-based coatings.
 5. The plastic product according to claim 1,wherein the substrate layer has a thickness selected from the range of0.5 to 3.0 mils.
 6. The plastic product according to claim 1, the methodfurther including, prior to the bonding of the substrate layer,fabricating the substrate layer by providing a release liner andapplying a substrate material to the release liner and wherein thebonding of the substrate layer comprises forcing the ink layer and thesubstrate material into contact, activating the substrate material withheat and pressure to attach the substrate material to the ink layer, andremoving the release liner.
 7. The plastic product according to claim 1,wherein the substrate layer comprises a coating material and the bondingof the substrate comprises coating the ink layer with the coatingmaterial.
 8. The plastic product according to claim 1, wherein theplastic molding assembly is one of an injection molding machine and ablow molding machine.
 9. The plastic product according to claim 1,further including concurrently with the operating of the plastic moldingassembly, retaining the first surface of the lenticular insert incontact with an outer wall of the mold cavity to block flow of theplastic material charge onto the first surface.
 10. The plastic productaccording to claim 9, wherein the retaining of the first surfacecomprises applying a vacuum to the portion of the first surface.
 11. Theplastic product according to claim 9, wherein the retaining of the firstsurface includes attaching raised surface members to an exposed side ofthe substrate, the raised surface members contacting a center dieelement in the mold cavity of the plastic molding assembly during thepositioning of the lenticular insert.
 12. The plastic product accordingto claim 1, wherein the first surface of the lenticular lens layer hasoptical ridges and corresponding optical grooves.
 13. The plasticproduct according to claim 1, wherein the first surface of thelenticular lens is smooth and the lenticular lens material sheet haslens forming air channels.
 14. The plastic product according to claim 1,further including a pimer coating situated between the lenticular lenslayer and the ink layer.